It has generally been imagined, but with great injustice, as well as

incorrectness, that the natives have no idea of property in land, or

proprietary rights connected with it. Nothing can be further from the

truth than this assumption, although men of high character and standing,

and who are otherwise benevolently disposed towards the natives, have

distinctly denied this right, and maintained that the natives were not

entitled to have any choice of land reserved for them out of their own

possessions, and in their respective districts.

In the public journals of the colonies the question has often been

discussed, and the same unjust assertion put forth. A single quotation

will be sufficient to illustrate the spirit prevailing upon this point.

It is from a letter on the subject published in South Australian Register

of the 1st August, 1840:--"It would be difficult to define what

conceivable proprietary rights were ever enjoyed by the miserable savages

of South Australia, who never cultivated an inch of the soil, and whose

ideas of the value of its direct produce never extended beyond obtaining

a sufficiency of pieces of white chalk and red ochre wherewith to bedaub

their bodies for their filthy corrobberies." Many similar proofs might be

given of the general feeling entertained respecting the rights of the

Aborigines, arising out of their original possession of the soil. It is a

feeling, however, that can only have originated in an entire ignorance of

the habits, customs, and ideas of this people. As far as my own

observation has extended, I have found that particular districts, having

a radius perhaps of from ten to twenty miles, or in other cases varying

according to local circumstances, are considered generally as being the

property and hunting-grounds of the tribes who frequent them. These

districts are again parcelled out among the individual members of the

tribe. Every male has some portion of land, of which he can always point

out the exact boundaries. These properties are subdivided by a father

among his sons during his own lifetime, and descend in almost hereditary

succession. A man can dispose of or barter his land to others; but a

female never inherits, nor has primogeniture among the sons any peculiar

rights or advantages. Tribes can only come into each other's districts by

permission, or invitation, in which case, strangers or visitors are

always well treated. The following extract from Captain Grey's work gives

the result of that gentlemen's observations in Western Australia,

corroborated by Dr. Lang's experience of the practice among the natives

of New South Wales, (vol. ii. p. 232 to 236.)

"TRADITIONAL LAWS RELATIVE TO LANDED PROPERTY.--Landed property does not

belong to a tribe, or to several families, but to a single male; and the

limits of his property are so accurately defined that every native knows

those of his own land, and can point out the various objects which mark

his boundary. I cannot establish the fact and the universality of this

institution better than by the following letter addressed by Dr. Lang,

the Principal of Sydney College, New South Wales, to Dr. Hodgkin, the

zealous advocate of the Aboriginal Races:

"LIVERPOOL, 15th Nov. 1840.

"My Dear Friend,--In reply to the question which you proposed to me some

time ago, in the course of conversation in London, and of which you have

reminded me in the letter I had the pleasure of receiving from you

yesterday, with the pamphlets and letters for America, viz.--'Whether the

Aborigines of the Australian continent have any idea of property in

land,' I beg to answer most decidedly in the affirmative. It is well

known that these Aborigines in no instance cultivate the soil, but

subsist entirely by hunting and fishing, and on the wild roots they find

in certain localities (especially the common fern), with occasionally a

little wild honey; indigenous fruits being exceedingly rare. The whole

race is divided into tribes, more or less numerous, according to

circumstances, and designated from the localities they inhabit; for

although universally a wandering race with respect to places of

habitation, their wanderings are circumscribed by certain well-defined

limits, beyond which they seldom pass, except for purposes of war or

festivity. In short, every tribe has its own district, the boundaries of

which are well known to the natives generally; and within that district

all the wild animals are considered as much the property of the tribe

inhabiting, or rather ranging on, its whole extent, as the flocks of

sheep and herds of cattle, that have been introduced into the country by

adventurous Europeans, are held by European law and usage the property of

their respective owners. In fact, as the country is occupied chiefly for

pastoral purposes, the difference between the Aboriginal and the European

ideas of property in the soil is more imaginary than real, the native

grass affording subsistence to the kangaroos of the natives, as well as

to the wild cattle of the Europeans, and the only difference indeed

being, that the former are not branded with a particular mark like the

latter, and are somewhat wilder and more difficult to catch. Nay, as the

European regards the intrusion of any other white man upon the

CATTLE-RUN, of which European law and usage have made him the possessor,

and gets it punished as a trespass, the Aborigines of the particular

tribe inhabiting a particular district, regard the intrusion of any other

tribe of Aborigines upon that district, for the purposes of kangaroo

hunting, etc. as an intrusion, to be resisted and punished by force of

arms. In short, this is the frequent cause of Aboriginal, as it is of

European wars; man, in his natural state, being very much alike in all

conditions--jealous of his rights, and exceedingly pugnacious. It is

true, the European intruders pay no respect to these Aboriginal divisions

of the territory, the black native being often hunted off his own ground,

or destroyed by European violence, dissipation, or disease, just as his

kangaroos are driven off that ground by the European's black cattle; but

this surely does not alter the case as to the right of the Aborigines.

"But particular districts are not merely the property of particular

tribes; particular sections or portions of these districts are

universally recognised by the natives as the property of individual

members of these tribes; and when the owner of such a section or portion

of territory (as I ascertained was the case at King George's Island) has

determined on burning off the grass on his land, which is done for the

double purpose of enabling the natives to take the older animals more

easily, and to provide a new crop of sweeter grass for the rising

generation of the forest, not only all the other individuals of his own

tribe, but whole tribes from other districts are invited to the hunting

party, and the feast and dance, or corrobory that ensue; the wild animals

on the ground being all considered the property of the owner of the land.

I have often heard natives myself tell me, in answer to my questions on

the subject, who were the Aboriginal owners of particular tracts of land

now held by Europeans; and indeed this idea of property in the soil, FOR

HUNTING PURPOSES, is universal among the Aborigines. They seldom complain

of the intrusion of Europeans; on the contrary, they are pleased at their

SITTING DOWN, as they call it, on their land: they do not perceive that

their own circumstances are thereby sadly altered for the worse in most

cases; that their means of subsistence are gradually more and more

limited, and their numbers rapidly diminished: in short, in the

simplicity of their hearts, they take the frozen adder in their bosom,

and it stings them to death. They look for a benefit or blessing from

European intercourse, and it becomes their ruin.

"If I had a little more leisure I would have written more at length, and

in a style more worthy of your perusal; but you may take it as certain,

at all events, that the Aborigines of Australia HAVE an idea of property

in the soil in their native and original state, and that that idea is, in

reality, not very different from that of the European proprietors of

sheep and cattle, by whom they have, in so many instances, been

dispossessed, without the slightest consideration of their rights or

feelings.

"Indeed, the infinity of the native names of places, all of which are

descriptive and appropriate, is of itself a PRIMA FACIE evidence of their

having strong ideas of property in the soil; for it is only where such

ideas are entertained and acted on, that we find, as is certainly the

case in Australia, NULLUM SINE NOMINE SAXUM.

"I am, my dear Friend,

"Your's very sincerely,

"JOHN DUNMORE LANG.

"To Dr. Hodgkin."

The dwellings of the Aborigines are simple, of a very temporary

character, and requiring but little skill or labour to construct them. In

the summer season, or when the weather is fine, they consist of little

more than a few bushes laid one upon the other, in the form of a

semicircle, as a protection from the wind, for the head, which is laid

usually close up to this slight fence. In the winter, or in cold or wet

weather, the semicircular form is still preserved, but the back and sides

are sheltered by branches raised upon one end, meeting at the top in an

arch, and supported by props in front, the convex part being always

exposed to the wind. The sizes of these huts depends upon the facilities

that may be afforded for making them, the number of natives, and the

state of the weather.

[Note 75: "Travelled northerly for 20 miles; at evening encamped at

Tarcone, adjacent to the station (then being formed) of Drs. Bernard

and Kilgour. The greater part of the servants at this establishment

had been convicts, they were in a state of great insubordination.

My native attendants pointed out an extensive weir, 200 feet long

and five feet high; they said it was the property of a family,

and emphatically remarked, "that white men had stolen it and their

country;" the Yow-ew-nil-lurns were the original inhabitants. "Tapoe,"

the Mount Napier of Mitchell, is an isolated hill of volcanic

formation; the crater is broken down on the west side to its base.

The great swamp is skirted by low hills and well grassed open forest

land; the natives are still the undisputed occupants, no white men

having been there to dispossess them. The people who occupy the

country have fixed residences; at one village were 13 large huts,

they are warm and well constructed, in shape of a cupola or "kraal;" a

strong frame of wood is first made, and the whole covered with thick

turf, with the grass inwards; there are several varieties; those like a

kraal are sometimes double, having two entrances, others are

demicircular; some are made with boughs and grass, and last are the

temporary screens; one hut measured 10 feet diameter by five feet high,

and sufficiently strong for a man on horseback to ride over.

"Left early, attended by Pevay, to reconnoitre the country. In the

marshes numerous trenches were again met with; these resembled more the

works of civilized than of savage men; they were of considerable extent;

one continuous treble line measured 500 yards in length, two feet in

width, and from 18 inches to two feet in depth; these treble dikes led to

extensive ramified watercourses; the whole covered an area of at least

ten acres, and must have been done at great cost of labour to the

Aborigines, a convincing proof of their persevering industry. These are

the most interesting specimens of native art I had seen; thousands of

yards had been accomplished; the mountain streams were made to pass

through them. In fishing, the natives use the arabine or eel-pot of

platted grass, from nine to twelve feet in length. On the elevated ground

were some of the largest ash-hills I had seen, and must have been the

work of generations; one measured 31 yards in length, 29 in width, and

two in height, with hollow cavities for the natives' bivouacs and camping

places."--"Extract from Mr. Robinson's Letter, copied from papers

relative to Australian Aborigines, printed for the House of Commons,

August 1844, p. 240."]

Sometimes each married man will have a hut for himself, his wives, and

family, including perhaps occasionally his mother, or some other near

relative. At other times, large long huts are constructed, in which, from

five to ten families reside, each having their own separate fire. Young

unmarried men frequently unite in parties of six or eight, and make a hut

for themselves. The materials of which the huts are composed, are

generally small branches or boughs of trees, covered in wet weather with

grass, or other similar material. At other times, and especially if

large, or made in wet weather, they are formed of thick solid logs of

wood, piled and arranged much in the same way as the lighter material,

but presenting an appearance of durability that the others do not

possess. In this case they are generally well covered over with grass,

creeping plants, or whatever else may appear likely to render them

waterproof. In travelling through the country, I have found that where

bushes or shrubs abounded, I could at any time in an hour or two, by

working hard, make myself a hut in which I could lie down, perfectly

secure from any rain. The natives, of course, have much less difficulty

in doing this, from their great skill and constant practice. In many

parts of New Holland that I have been in, bark is almost exclusively used

by the natives, for their huts; where it can be procured good it is

better than any thing else. I have frequently seen sheets of bark twelve

feet long, and eight or ten feet wide, without a single crack or flaw, in

such cases one sheet would form a large and good hut; but even where it

is of a far inferior description, it answers, by a little system in the

arrangement, better than almost any thing else. Projecting, or

overhanging rocks, caverns, hollows of trees, etc. etc., are also

frequently made use of by the natives for lodging houses in cold or wet

weather. When hostile parties are supposed to be in the neighbourhood,

the natives are very cautious in selecting secret and retired places to

sleep. They go up on the high grounds, back among scrubs, or encamp in

the hollows of watercourses, or where there are dense bushes of

polygonum, or close belts of reeds; the fires are very small on these

occasions, and sometimes none are made; you may thus have a large body of

natives encamped very near you without being conscious of it. I have been

taken by a native to a camp of about twenty people in a dense belt of

reeds, which I had gone close by without being aware of their presence,

although I could not have been more than three or four yards from some of

them when I passed.

It has already been remarked, that where many natives meet together, the

arrangements of their respective huts depends upon the direction they

have come from. In their natural state many customs and restrictions

exist, which are often broken through, when they congregate in the

neighbourhood of European settlements.

Such is the custom requiring all boys and uninitiated young men to sleep

at some distance from the huts of the adults, and to remove altogether

away in the morning as soon as daylight dawns, and the natives begin to

move about. This is to prevent their seeing the women, some of whom may

be menstruating; and if looked upon by the young males, it is supposed

that dire results will follow. Strangers are by another similar rule

always required to get to their own proper place at the camp, by going

behind and not in front of the huts. In the same way, if young males meet

a party of women going out to look for food, they are obliged to take a

circuit to avoid going near them. It is often amusing to witness the

dilemma in which a young native finds himself when living with Europeans,

and brought by them into a position at variance with his prejudices on

this point. All the buildings of the natives are necessarily from their

habits of a very temporary character, seldom being intended for more than

a few weeks' occupation, and frequently only for a few days. By this time

food is likely to become scarce, or the immediate neighbourhood unclean,

and a change of locality is absolutely unavoidable. When the huts are

constructed, the ground is made level within, any little stumps of

bushes, or plants, stones, or other things being removed, and grass,

reeds, or leaves of trees frequently gathered and spread over the bottom,

to form a dry and soft bed; this and their opossum cloak constitute the

greatest degree of luxury to which they aspire. Occasionally native men,

in very cold weather, are both without huts and clothing of any kind. In

this case, many small fires are made (for the natives never make a large

one), by which they keep themselves warm. I have often seen single

natives sleep with a fire at their head, another at their feet, and one

on either side, and as close as ever they could make them without burning

themselves; indeed, sometimes within a very few inches of their bodies.

The weapons of the natives are simple and rudimental in character, but

varied in their kind and make, according to the purposes for which they

may be required, or the local circumstances of the district in which they

are used. The spear, which is the chief weapon of offence over all the

known parts of the continent, is of two kinds, one kind is used with the

throwing stick, and the other is thrown out of the hand; of each there

are four varieties that I am acquainted with. Of those launched with the

throwing stick there are--1, the kiko, or reed spear, pointed with hard

wood; 2, the kiero, or hard wood spear, with about two feet of the

flower-stem of the grass-tree jointed to the upper end; 3, a similar

weapon, with five or six jags cut in the solid wood of the point upon one

side; and 4, the light hard wood spear of Port Lincoln, and the coast to

the eastward, where a single barb is spliced on at the extreme point with

the sinew of the emu or the kangaroo: each spear averages from six to

eight feet in length, and is thrown with facility and precision to

distances, varying from thirty to one hundred yards, according to the

kind made use of, and the skill of the native in using it.

Of the large spear there is--1, the karkuroo, or smooth heavy spear, made

of the gum-scrub; 2, the same description of weapon, barbed with

fragments of flint or quartz; 3, another variety, having five or six jags

cut at the point, upon one side; and 4, a similar weapon, with the same

number of barbs cut upon both sides of the point: each of them is from

twelve to fourteen feet long, and is thrown with most deadly force and

accuracy to distances of from thirty to forty feet. The fishing spear has

already been described. The Nga-wa-onk, or throwing stick is from

twenty to twenty-six inches in length, and is of a very similar character

throughout the continent, varying a little in width or shape according to

the fashion of particular districts. It consists of a piece of hard wood,

broad about the middle, flattened and sometimes hollowed on the inside,

and tapering to either extremity; at the point the tooth of a kangaroo is

tied and gummed on, turning downwards like a hook; the opposite end has a

lump of pitch with a flint set in it, moulded round so as to form a knob,

which prevents the hand from slipping whilst it is being used, or it is

wound round with string made of the fur of the opossum for the same

purpose. In either case it is held by the lower part in the palm of the

hand, clasped firmly by the three lower fingers, with its upper part

resting between the fore-finger and the next; the head of the spear, in

which is a small hole, is fitted to the kangaroo tooth, and then coming

down between the fore-finger and thumb, is firmly grasped for throwing;

the arm is then drawn back, the weapon levelled to the eye, a quivering

motion given to it to steady it, and it is hurled with a rapidity, force,

and precision quite incredible.

The Wangn or wangno (the boomerang of Eastern and kiley of Western

Australia) is another simple but destructive weapon, in the hands of the

native. It consists of a thin, flat, curved piece of hard wood, about two

feet long, made out of the acacia pendula or gum-scrub, the raspberry-jam

wood, or any other of a similar character, a branch or limb is selected

which has naturally the requisite curve (an angle from one hundred to one

hundred and thirty degrees) and is dressed down to a proper shape and

thickness, and rounded somewhat at the bend, those whose angles are

slightly obtuse, are usually thrown with the sharp edge against the wind,

and go circling through the air with amazing velocity, and to a great

height and distance, describing nearly a parabola and descending again at

the foot of the person who throws them; those which have the largest

obtuse angle are thrown generally against the ground from which they

bound up to a great height, and with much force. With both, the natives

are able to hit distant objects with accuracy, either in hunting or in

war; in the latter case this weapon is particularly dangerous, as it is

almost impossible, even when it is seen in the air, to tell which way it

will go, or where descend. I once nearly had my arm broken by a wangno,

whilst standing within a yard of the native who threw it, and looking out

purposely for it.

The (katta twirris) or two-edged sword is a formidable weapon, used among

the tribes to the north of Adelaide, exclusively for war; another weapon,

common among the same tribes, is the katta, a round chisel-pointed stick,

about three feet long, and used principally in pitched battles between

two individuals.

Another weapon is an angular piece of hard wood, pointed and shaped very

much like a miner's pick, the longer or handle-end being rounded and

carved, to give a firmer grasp; another dreadful weapon, intended for

close combat, is made out of hard wood, from two to three feet long,

straight and with the handle rounded and carved for the grasp, which has

an immense pointed knob at the end; the bwirri, is also a weapon of hard

wood about two feet long, rather slight and merely smoothed in the

handle, with a round knob at the extremity, it is principally thrown, and

with very great precision; but is more generally used after game than in

warfare.

The shield (tar-ram) is made out of the bark or wood of the gum-tree, and

varies in shape and device, the ordinary shield is about two or two and a

half feet long, from eight to eighteen inches across, and tapering from

the middle towards the extremities, two holes are made near the centre,

through which a piece of wood is bent for a handle; shields are always

carved and painted in time of war.

The implements made use of by the natives are not very numerous, and

their general characteristics are nearly the same all over the continent.

The native hatchet is made of a very hard greenish-looking stone, rubbed

to an edge on either side; it is fixed in the cleft of a stick, or a

branch is doubled round it, and either tied or gummed to prevent its

slipping. The throwing sticks have generally a sharp piece of quartz or

flint gummed on at the lower end, which is used as a knife or chisel;

flints or muscle shells are used for skinning animals, dissecting food,

cutting hair, etc.

The ngak-ko, a strong chisel-pointed stick, from three to four feet long,

is used for dissecting the larger animals and fish, for digging grubs out

of the trees, for making holes to get out opossums, etc., for stripping

bark, ascending trees, for cutting bark canoes, and a variety of other

useful purposes. The rod for noosing ducks, (tat-tat-ko) and other wild

fowl, is about sixteen feet long, and consists, in its lower part, for

the first ten feet, of hard wood, tapering like an ordinary spear, to

this is cemented with resin, a joint of tolerably strong reed about

sixteen inches long, at the upper end of this is inserted and cemented

with wax, a tapering rod of hard wood, three feet long and very similar

to the top joint of a fly-fishing rod, to this is spliced a fine springy

and strong top, of about eighteen inches in length, at the end of which

is bound a piece of fine strong cord, which works with a running noose

upon the tapering end of the instrument. Needles are made from the fibula

of the emu or kangaroo, and are pointed at one end by being rubbed on a

stone, they are used in sewing as we use a shoemaker's awl, the hole is

bored and the thread put through with the hand; the thread is made of the

sinews of the emu and kangaroo. The netting needle is a little round bit

of stick or reed, about the size of a lead pencil, round which the string

is wound, no mesh is used, the eye and hand enabling the native to net

with the utmost regularity, speed, and neatness.

The nets for hunting, for carrying their effects or food, for making

belts for the waist, or bandages for the head, are all made from the

tendons or fur of animals, or from the fibres of plants. In the former,

the sinews of the kangaroo or emu, and the fur of opossums and other

similar animals, are used; in the latter, a species of rush, the fibres

of the root of the mallow, the fibres of the root of the broad flag-reed,

etc. and in some parts of the continent, the fibrous bark of trees. The

materials are prepared for use by being soaked in water and carded with

the teeth and hands, or by being chewed or rubbed.

String is made by the fibres being twisted, and rubbed with the palm of

the hand over the naked thighs, and is often as neatly executed as

English whip-cord, though never consisting of more than two strands,--the

strands being increased in thickness according to the size of the cord

that may be required. Nets vary in size and strength according to the

purposes for which they are required; the duck net (kew-rad-ko) has

already been described, as also the kenderanko, or small net for diving

for fish, and the taendilly net, for diving with under the rocks for the

larger fish; the kenyinki is a net with very small meshes, and set out

with a wooden bow, for catching shrimps and other very small fish. There

are also, a wharro, a large hoop-net for catching small cray-fish; a

lenko, or small net for hanging round the neck, to put muscles,

cray-fish, frogs, etc. in; a rocko, or large net bag, used by the women

for carrying their worldly effects about with them; the kaar-ge-rum, or

net for the waistband; the rad-ko, or fishing net, which is a regular

seine for catching fish, about fifty or sixty feet in length, and varying

in depth according to the place where it is to be used; the emu or

kangaroo net (nunko) is very strong, with meshes from five to six inches

square; it is made of cord as thick as a large quill, and its length is

from a hundred to a hundred and thirty feet, and depth about five feet

when set. The wallabie net is about thirty feet long, of strong cord, and

when set about eighteen inches high. The size of the meshes of all the

nets depends upon the game to be taken; generally they are small. Neat,

and variously striped baskets and mats are made by the women of certain

tribes, from rushes, or a broad-leaved description of grass. The kallater

is a round basket, wide at the base, and tapering upwards; its size

varies. The poola-danooko is a very pretty looking, flat, oval basket,

adapted for laying against the back. The poneed-ke is a large, flat,

circular mat, worn over the back and shoulders, and when tied by a band

round the waist affords a lodging for an infant. Large bags or wallets

are also made of kangaroo skins, with the fur outside, and small ones of

the skins of lesser animals with the fur inside. Skins are prepared for

making cloaks by pegging them tight out upon the ground soon after they

are taken off the animal, when dry, cold ashes or dust are thrown in, to

absorb any grease that may have exuded. If the weather is damp, or the

native is in a hurry, they are pegged out near the fire; after drying,

the smaller skins are rubbed with stones to make them flexible, or are

scored or ornamented with various devices, cut with a flint or shell on

the skin side; the larger skins have their inner layers shaved off by

flints, shells, or implements of wood. Opossums, wallabies, young

kangaroos, etc. are skinned sometimes by simply making a slit about the

head, through which the rest of the body is made to pass; the skins are

turned inside out, and the ends of the legs tied up, and are then ready

for holding water, and always form part of the baggage of natives who

travel much about, or go into badly watered districts. I have seen these

skins (lukomb) capable of holding from two to three gallons of water: the

fur is always inside. The karko is a small spade of wood, used by the

natives north of Adelaide for digging up grubs from the ground. The canoe

or "mun" is a large sheet of bark cut from the gum-tree, carefully

lowered to the ground, and then heated with fire until it becomes soft

and pliable, and can be moulded into form, it is then supported by wooden

props, to keep it in shape, until it becomes hard and set, which is in

about twenty-four hours, though it is frequently used sooner. On its

being launched, sticks or stretchers are placed across each end and in

the middle, to prevent the bark from contracting or curling up with

exposure to the air. A large canoe will hold seven or eight people

easily; it is often twenty feet long. The following is a description of

an ordinary one for fishing:--length fifteen feet, width three feet,

depth eight inches, formed out of a single sheet of bark, with one end a

little narrower than the other and pointing upwards. This end is paddled

first; the bottom is nearly flat, and the canoe is so firm, that a person

can take hold of one side, and climb into it from the water without

upsetting it. It is paddled along with the long pine-spear moo-aroo,

described as being used in fishing at night by firelight. In propelling

it the native stands near the centre, pushing his moo-aroo against the

water, first on one side and then on the other; in shallow water one end

of the moo-aroo is placed on the bottom, and the canoe so pushed along.

The natives are well acquainted with the use of fire, for hardening the

points of their weapons or softening the wood to enable them to bend

them. In the former case, the point is charred in the fire, and scraped

with a shell or flint to the precise shape required; in the latter, their

spears, and other similar weapons, are placed upon hot ashes, and bent

into form by pressure. It is a common practice among many of the tribes

to grease their weapons and implements with human fat, taken from the

omentum, either of enemies who have been killed, or of relations who have

died. Spears, and other offensive arms, are supposed to possess

additional powers if thus treated; and nets and other implements for

procuring game are imagined to become much more effectual in ensnaring

prey. In setting nets, too, the natives have a practice of taking up a

handful of water to the mouth, and then squirting it out over the net, in

a shower of spray, this they think is a powerful charm to ensure the fish

being caught.

There can hardly be said to be any form of government existing among a

people who recognize no authority, and where every member of the

community is at liberty to act as he likes, except, in so far as he may

be influenced by the general opinions or wishes of the tribe, or by that

feeling which prompts men, whether in civilised or savage communities to

bend to the will of some one or two persons who may have taken a more

prominent and leading part than the rest in the duties and avocations of

life. Among none of the tribes yet known have chiefs ever been found to

be acknowledged, though in all there are always some men who take the

lead, and whose opinions and wishes have great weight with the others.

Other things being equal, a man's authority and influence increase among

his tribe in proportion to his years. To each stage of life through which

he passes is given some additional knowledge or power, and he is

privileged to carry an additional number of implements and weapons, as he

advances in life. An old grey-headed man generally carries the principal

implements and weapons, either for war or sorcery; many of the latter the

women and children are never allowed to see, such as pieces of

rock-crystal, by which the sorcerer can produce rain, cause blindness, or

impart to the waters the power of destroying life, etc.; sacred daggers

for causing the death of their enemies by enchantment; the

moor-y-um-karr or flat oval piece of wood which is whirled round

the camp at nights, and many others of a similar nature.

I have not, however, found that age is invariably productive of

influence, unless the individual has previously signalized himself among

his people, and taken up a commanding position when youth and strength

enabled him to support his pretensions, and unless he be still in full

possession of vigour of mind and energy of character, though no longer

endowed with personal strength. The grey-head appears to be usually

treated with respect as long as the owner is no incumbrance to those

around him, but the moment he becomes a drag, every tie is broken, and he

is at once cast off to perish. Among many tribes with which I have been

acquainted, I have often noticed that though the leading men were

generally elderly men from forty-five to sixty years old, they were not

always the oldest; they were still in full vigour of body and mind, and

men who could take a prominent part in acting as well as counselling. I

am inclined, therefore, to think that the degree of estimation in which

any native is held by his fellows, or the amount of deference that may be

paid to his opinions, will in a great measure depend upon his personal

strength, courage, energy, prudence, skill, and other similar

qualifications, influenced, perhaps, collaterally by his family

connections and the power which they possess.

Each father of a family rules absolutely over his own circle. In his

movements and arrangements he is uncontrolled, yet, as a matter of

policy, he always informs his fellows where he is going, what he is going

to do, how long he will be absent, when he will meet them again, etc. It

thus happens that, although a tribe may be dispersed all over their own

district in single groups, or some even visiting neighbouring tribes, yet

if you meet with any one family they can at once tell you where you will

find any other, though the parties themselves may not have met for weeks.

Some one or other is always moving about, and thus the news of each

other's locality gets rapidly spread among the rest. The principal

occupation, indeed, of parties when they meet, is to give and receive

information relative to neighbouring families or tribes. In cases of

sudden danger or emergency, the scattered groups are rapidly warned or

collected by sending young men as messengers, or by raising signal smokes

in prominent positions.

In an assembly of the tribe, matters of importance are generally

discussed and decided upon, by the elder men, apart from the others. It

not unfrequently happens, however, that some discontented individual will

loudly and violently harangue the whole tribe; this usually occurs in the

evening, and frequently continues for hours together; his object being

generally either to reverse some decision that has been come to, to

excite them to something they are unwilling to do, or to abuse some one

who is absent. Occasionally he is replied to by others, but more

frequently allowed uninterruptedly to wear himself out, when from sheer

exhaustion he is compelled to sit down.

Occasionally the tribe is addressed by its most influential members in

the language of admonition or advice, and though at such times a loud

tone and strong expressions are made use of, there is rarely any thing

amounting to an order or command; the subject is explained, reasons are

given for what is advanced, and the result of an opposite course to that

suggested, fully pointed out; after this the various members are left to

form their own judgments, and to act as they think proper.

In their domestic relations with one another polygamy is practised in its

fullest extent. An old man having usually from one to four wives, or as

many as he can procure.

The females, and especially the young ones are kept principally among the

old men, who barter away their daughters, sisters, or nieces, in exchange

for wives for themselves or their sons. Wives are considered the absolute

property of the husband, and can be given away, or exchanged, or lent,

according to his caprice. A husband is denominated in the Adelaide

dialect, Yongarra, Martanya (the owner or proprietor of a wife). Female

children are betrothed usually from early infancy, and such arrangements

are usually adhered to; still in many cases circumstances occur

frequently to cause an alteration; but if not, the girls generally go to

live with their husbands about the age of twelve, and sometimes even

before that. Relatives nearer than cousins are not allowed to marry, and

this alliance does not generally take place. Female orphans belong to the

nearest male relative, as also does a widow, instead of to the nearest

male relative of the husband, as was found to be the case in Western

Australia by Captain Grey. Two or three months generally elapse before

the widow goes to another husband; but if the wife dies, the man takes

another as soon as he can get one. If a woman, having young children,

join another tribe, the children go with her; but I am not aware whether

they would remain permanently attached to that tribe or not. Brothers

often barter their sisters for wives for themselves, but it can only be

done with the parents' consent, or after their death. If a wife be

stolen, war is always continued until she is given up, or another female

in her place.

There is no ceremony connected with the undertaking of marriage. In those

cases where I have witnessed the giving away of a wife, the woman was

simply ordered by the nearest male relative in whose disposal she was, to

take up her "rocko," the bag in which a female carries the effects of her

husband, and go to the man's camp to whom she had been given. Marriage is

not looked upon as any pledge of chastity, indeed no such virtue is

recognised.

[Note 76: Foeminae sese per totam pene vitam prostituunt. Apud plurimas

tribus juventutem utriusque sexus sine discrimine concumbere in usus est.

Si juvenis forte indigenorum coetum quendam in castris manentem adveniat

ubi quaevis sit puella innupta, mos est; nocte veniente et cubantibus

omnibus, illam ex loco exsurgere et juvenem accedentem cum illo per

noctem manere unde in sedem propriam ante diem redit. Cui foemina sit,

eam amicis libenter praebet; si in itinere sit, uxori in castris manenti

aliquis ejus supplet ille vires. Advenis ex longinquo accedentibus

foeminas ad tempus dare hospitis esse boni judicatur. Viduis et foeminis

jam senescentibus saepe in id traditis, quandoque etiam invitis et

insciis cognatis, adolescentes utuntur. Puellae tenerae a decimo primum

anno, et pueri a decimo tertio vel quarto, inter se miscentur. Senioribus

mos est, si forte gentium plurium castra appropinquant, viros noctu huic

inde transeuntes, uxoribus alienis uti et in sua castra ex utraque parte

mane redire. Temporis quinetiam certis, machina quaedam ex ligno ad formam

ovi facta, sacra et mystica, uam foeminas aspicere haud licitam, decem

plus minus uncias longa et circa quatuor lata insculpta ac figuris

diversis ornata, et ultimam perforata partem ad longam (plerumque e

crinibus humanis textam) inscrendam chordam cui nomen "Mooyumkarr," extra

castra in gyrum versata, stridore magno e percusso aere facto, libertatem

coeundi juventuti esse tum concessam omnibus indicat. Parentes saepe

infantum, viri uxorum quaestum corporum faciunt. In urbe Adelaide panis

praemio parvi aut paucorum denariorum meretrices fieri eas libenter

cogunt. Facile potest intelligi, amorem inter nuptos vix posse esse

grandem, quum omnia quae ad foeminas attinent, hominum arbitrio

ordinentur et tanta sexuum societati laxitas, et adolescentes quibus ita

multae ardoris explendi dantur occasiones, haud magnopere uxores, nisi ut

servas desideraturos.

But little real affection consequently exists between husbands and wives,

and young men value a wife principally for her services as a slave; in

fact when asked why they are anxious to obtain wives, their usual reply

is, that they may get wood, water, and food for them, and carry whatever

property they possess. In 1842 the wife of a native in Adelaide, a girl

about eighteen, was confined, and recovered slowly; before she was well

the tribe removed from the locality, and the husband preferred

accompanying them, and left his wife to die, instead of remaining to

attend upon her and administer to her wants. When the natives were gone,

the girl was removed to the mission station, to receive medical

attendance, but eventually died. In the same year an old woman who broke

her thigh was left to die, as the tribe did not like the trouble of

carrying her about. Parents are treated in the same manner when helpless

and infirm. [Note 77 at end of para.] In 1839 I found an aged man

left to die, without fire or food, upon a high bare hill beyond the

Broughton. In 1843 I found two old women, who had been abandoned in

the same way, at the Murray, and although they were taken every care

of when discovered, they both died in about a week afterwards. No age

is prescribed for matrimony, but young men under twenty-five years

of age do not often obtain wives, there are exceptions, however,

to this: I have seen occasionally young men of seventeen or eighteen

possessing them. When wives are from thirty-five to forty years of age,

they are frequently cast off by the husbands, or are given to the

younger men in exchange for their sisters or near relatives, if such are

at their disposal.

[Note 77: "Practised by the American Indians."--Catlin, vol. i. p. 216.

"The early life of a young woman at all celebrated for beauty is generally

one continued series of captivity to different masters, of ghastly wounds,

of wanderings in strange families, of rapid flights, of bad treatment from

other females amongst whom she is brought a stranger by her captor; and

rarely do you see a form of unusual grace and elegance, but it is marked

and scarred by the furrows of old wounds; and many a female thus wanders

several hundred miles from the home of her infancy, being carried off

successively to distant and more distant points."]

Women are often sadly ill-treated by their husbands or friends, in

addition to the dreadful life of drudgery, and privation, and hardship

they always have to undergo; they are frequently beaten about the head,

with waddies, in the most dreadful manner, or speared in the limbs for

the most trivial offences. No one takes the part of the weak or the

injured, or ever attempts to interfere with the infliction of such severe

punishments.

Few women will be found, upon examination, to be free from frightful

scars upon the head, or the marks of spear-wounds about the body. I have

seen a young woman, who, from the number of these marks, appeared to have

been almost riddled with spear wounds. Upon this point Captain Grey

remarks, vol. ii. p. 249.

The menses commence to flow among the native females at an earlier age

than among Europeans, frequently beginning at about twelve; they are also

subject to many irregularities in their periodical return, arising

probably from the kind of life they lead and the nature of the diet upon

which they live. I have known cases where this irregularity has extended

to three months. Child-bearing does not commence often before the age of

sixteen, nor have I ever noticed pregnant women under that age. In

inquiries conducted by Mr. Moorhouse among the natives of Adelaide, that

gentleman ascertained, that as many as nine children have occasionally

been born to one woman; that the average number is about five; but that

each mother only reared an average of two. At childbirth, the placenta,

which is considered as sacred, is carefully put away from the reach of

the dogs as soon as thrown off from the uterus, and the female is up and

following her usual avocations a very few hours after the accouchement.

Instances have occurred of women sitting up, and asking for food an hour

after confinement, though wet with rain, and having very little fire. Two

days after it, I have seen a woman walking two or three miles, and going

out to look for food in her usual manner. Infanticide is very common, and

appears to be practised solely to get rid of the trouble of rearing

children, and to enable the woman to follow her husband about in his

wanderings, which she frequently could not do if encumbered with a child.

The first three or four are often killed; no distinction appears to be

made in this case between male or female children. Half-castes appear to

be always destroyed.

The nomenclature of the natives is a subject of considerable difficulty,

and is at present involved in much obscurity and uncertainty, so many

different practices obtaining, and so many changes of name occurring to

some individuals during the course of their life. In the Adelaide

district, and among the tribes to the north, Mr. Moorhouse has found that

numerical names are given to children when first born, in the order of

birth, a variation in the termination constituting the distinction of

name for male or female, thus:--

IF MALE. IF FEMALE.

The 1st child would be called Kertameru Kertanya

2nd child would be called Warritya Warriarto

3rd child would be called Kudnutya Kudnarto

4th child would be called Monaitya Monarto

5th child would be called Milaitya Milarto

6th child would be called Marrutya Marruarto

7th child would be called Wangutya Wangwarto

8th child would be called Ngarlaitya Ngarlarto

9th child would be called Pouarna Ngarlarto

These are given at birth; but a short time after another name is added,

which is derived from some object in nature, as a plant, animal, or

insect. This name continues until after marriage and the birth of the

first child, upon which the father takes the name of this child, and has

the word binna or spinna, (an adult,) affixed, as Kadli; name of a child,

Kadlitpinna, the father of Kadli; the mother is called Kadli ngangki, or

mother of Kadli, from ngangki, a female or woman. The names of the father

and mother are changed at the birth of every child in the same manner.

At Moorunde, and among many other tribes, I have not found any numerical

names to be given at birth, the first name usually being that derived

from some object in nature. This is occasionally changed after marriage

and the birth of a child; as among the Adelaide or northern natives, the

father taking the name of the child with the affix of imbe or nimbe

(implying father), as Kartul, a child's name, Kartulnimbe the father of

Kartul, Memparne, a child's name, Memparnimbe the father of Memparne.

This paidronymic is not, however, always adhered to in preference to the

original name; thus Memparnimbe is as often called by his former name of

Tenberry as his paidronymic; he is also called occasionally Worrammo,

from his being left-handed. Neither have I found the name of the parent

change at the birth of every child; thus Memparnimbe has other children,

younger than Memparne, as Warrulan, Timarro, etc. yet he is never called

Warrulanimbe, Timarronimbe, etc. The mother's name, similarly to that of

the father, is also occasionally altered to that of the child, with the

affix of arwer, or emarwer, as Kartulemarwer, the mother of Kartul,

Memparnemarwer, the mother of Memparne, yet is the original name of the

mother as often used as the paidronymic. Old men are frequently called by

the name of the place which belongs to them, with the affix of bookola

thus Mooroondooyo Bookola is the old man who owns Mooroonde, etc.

At other times nicknames are given to natives, and so generally made use

of by the others that the proper or original name becomes almost lost.

Thus a native named Marloo, from a habit he had of looking about him and

saying, "I see, I see," is called Nairkinimbe, or the father of seeing.

Another named Ngalle-ngalle is called Eukonimbe, the father of eukodko,

from his being very fond of the crayfish of that name, and so on. Other

local appellations are given referring to some peculiarity of personal

appearance, Parn-gang-gapko, the baldheaded, Towang Makkeroo, the

broken-thighed, etc. Others again refer to family bereavements, as Roo

ptootarap, a father without children, Parntomakker, a childless mother,

Parnko, an orphan, Wirrang, one who has lost a brother, Rockootarap, one

whose wife is dead, Thaltarlpipke, an unmarried man, Rartchilock, one who

owns a wife, Rang, a widow, Waukerow, an unmarried woman, etc. These are

all distinctions, which though readily discoverable by a person tolerably

well versed in the dialect, or long resident among the same natives,

present many difficulties, and lead to many mistakes, amongst casual

inquirers, or those whose pursuits do not keep them long at the place of

their inquiries. There are others which are still more difficult to be

understood, from the almost utter impossibility of learning (with any

reasonable sacrifice of time) the language with sufficient accuracy to

enable the inquirer thoroughly to comprehend the meanings of the proper

names, and deduce the roots from which they are derived.

Even among the Adelaide tribes, where there appears to be a greater

uniformity in the system of nomenclature than I have met with any where

else, and where Mr. Moorhouse has devoted more time and attention to the

subject than perhaps any other person, there are still difficulties and

uncertainties. Thus an Adelaide boy about the age of ten, is called by

the name of Koar (the crow), from early infancy, but between ten and

twelve, after undergoing one of their ceremonies, the name was changed to

Mannara, (which I believe means the crow's nest). According, however, to

the usual system adopted, this boy's name ought to have remained Koar,

until, by becoming a married man and a father, it gave way to a

paidronymic.

There is another subject somewhat analogous to that of nomenclature, and

about which still less is known;--that of every native adopting some

object in creation as his crest, or tiende. The same thing is noticed by

Captain Grey in his narrative (vol. ii. p. 228).

"But as each family adopts some animal or vegetable, as their crest or

sign, or KOBONG as they call it, I imagine it more likely, that these

have been named after the families, than that the families have been

named after them.

"A certain mysterious connection exists between a family and its KOBONG,

so that a member of a family will never kill an animal of the species, to

which his KOBONG belongs, should he find it asleep; indeed, he always

kills it reluctantly, and never without affording it a chance to escape.

This arises from the family belief, that some one individual of the

species is their nearest friend, to kill whom would be a great crime, and

to be carefully avoided. Similarly, a native who has a vegetable for his

KOBONG, may not gather it under certain circumstances, and at a

particular period of the year."

From the foregoing quotation, it is apparent that very little difference

exists in the custom as practised in Western and Southern Australia. In

the former, however, there appears to be an unwillingness to destroy the

object represented by the kobong or tiende that I have never observed in

the latter. But very little appears to be known on this subject at

present, as far as regards the reason for assuming the tiende, or its

connection with the individual or family it may represent. The same

tiende seems to descend from a father to his children; but I have been

told occasionally of instances where such has not been the case. There

are several striking differences between the customs and habits of the

Aborigines of Western Australia, narrated by Captain Grey, and those in

force among the tribes I have myself been best acquainted with in

Southern or South-eastern Australia. One singular peculiarity is

described by Captain Grey.

"One of the most remarkable facts connected with the natives, is that

they are divided into certain great families, all the members of which

bear the same names, as a family or second name: the principal branches

of these families, so far as I have been able to ascertain, are the

Ballaroke

Tdondarup

Ngotak

Nagarnook

Nogonyuk

Mongalung

Narrangur.

"But in different districts the members of these families give a local

name to the one to which they belong, which is understood in that

district, to indicate some particular branch of the principal family. The

most common local names are,

Didaroke

Gwerrinjoke

Maleoke

Waddaroke

Djekoke

Kotejumeno

Namyungo

Yungaree.

"These family names are common over a great portion of the continent; for

instance, on the Western coast, in a tract of country extending between

four and five hundred miles in latitude, members of all these families

are found. In South Australia, I met a man who said that he belonged to

one of them, and Captain Flinders mentions Yungaree, as the name of a

native in the Gulf of Carpentaria.

"These family names are perpetuated, and spread through the country, by

the operation of two remarkable laws:--

"1st. That children of either sex, always take the family name of their

mother.

"2nd. That a man cannot marry a woman of his own family name."

From this it appears that the natives of that part of the country have in

addition to their other ordinary names a family or surname, which is

perpetuated through successive generations on the mother's side. This is

not the case as far as my observations and inquiries have enabled me to

ascertain among the numerous tribes frequenting the Murray river, and Mr.

Moorhouse assures me that he has been equally unable to detect any

coincidence of the kind among the tribes frequenting the district of

Adelaide.

The division, numbers, and names of the various tribes are also subjects

of difficulty and uncertainty. As far as my researches have yet extended

upon this point, it appears to me, first, that groups of natives have a

distinctive or a local appellation, derived from the particular place

they belong to, as Barmerara maru, the natives frequenting the lake

called Barmera: Moolyoolpero maru, the natives frequenting the lagoon

called Moolyoolko, and so on. Secondly, a general or tribal name, as

Narwijjerook, a native of the tribe so called, which includes the natives

of Barmera and various others in that neighbourhood. Karn-brickolenbola,

a native of the tribe so called, and which includes various groups around

Mooroonde. Thirdly, it appears that wherever a change occurs in the name

of the tribes to which contiguous groups of natives may belong, there is

a corresponding change in the dialect or language spoken; thus the

Narwij-jerook speak a dialect called Narwijjong, the Karn-brickolenbola

tribe the Aiawong dialect, and so on.

In many of these dialects there appears to be little more difference than

exists among the counties in England. Such is the case up the course of

the Murray from Lake Alexandrina to the Darling; and such Captain Grey

found to be the case throughout a great part of Western Australia. In

others the dialects are so totally unlike one another, that natives,

meeting upon opposite sides of a river, cannot speak to or understand a

word of what each other say, except through the medium of a third

language, namely that spoken by the natives of the river itself, and

which is totally unlike either of the other two.

This is the case at Moorunde, where three different dialects meet, the

Yakkumban, or dialect spoken by the Paritke tribe, or natives inhabiting

the scrub to the west and north-west of the Murray. The

Boraipar or language of the Arkatko tribe, who

inhabit the scrub to the east of the Murray, and the Aiawong or river

dialect, extending, with slight variations, from the junction of the

Murray and Lake Alexandrina to the Darling.

Chapter V.

CEREMONIES AND SUPERSTITIONS--FORMS OF BURIAL--MOURNING CUSTOMS--RELIGIOUS

IDEAS--EMPIRICS, ETC.

The ceremonies and superstitions of the natives are both numerous and

involved in much obscurity; indeed it is very questionable if any of them

are understood even by themselves. Almost all the tribes impose

initiatory rites upon the young, through which they must pass from one

stage of life to another, until admitted to the privileges and rights of

manhood. These observances differ greatly in different parts of the

continent, independently of local or distinctive variations indicative of

the tribe to which a native may belong.

Thus at the Gulf of Carpentaria, the rite of circumcision is performed;

at Swan River, King George's Sound, and nearly three hundred miles to the

eastward of the latter place, no such rite exists. Round the head of the

Great Australian Bight, and throughout the Port Lincoln Peninsula, not

only is this rite performed, but a still more extraordinary one conjoined

with it. [Note 78: "Finditur usque ad urethram a parte inferaa penis."]

Descending the east side of Spencer's and St. Vincent's Gulf, and

around the district of Adelaide, the simple rite of circumcision is

retained. Proceeding but a little farther to the banks of the Murray, and

its neighbourhood, no such ceremony exists, nor have I ever heard of its

having been observed any where on the southeastern, or eastern parts of

the continent.

So also with respect to tattooing; in one part of the continent it is

adopted, in another it is rejected; when it is practised, there are many

varieties in the form, number, or arrangement of the scars,

distinguishing the different tribes, so that one stranger meeting with

another any where in the woods, can at once tell, from the manner in

which he is tattooed, the country and tribe to which he belongs, if not

very remote. In the Adelaide district, Mr. Moorhouse has observed, that

there are five stages to be passed through, before the native attains the

rank of a bourka, or full grown man. The first is, that from birth to the

tenth year, when he is initiated into the second, or Wilya kundarti, by

being covered with blood, drawn from the arm of an adult; he is then

allowed to carry a wirri for killing birds, and a small wooden spade

(karko) for digging grubs out of the ground. At from twelve to fourteen,

the third stage is entered, by having the ceremony of circumcision

performed, which takes place in the following manner. Early in the

morning, the boys to be circumcised are seized from behind, and a bandage

is fastened over the eyes of each; they are then led away from the

presence of the women and children to a distance of half a mile, when

they are laid on the ground, and covered with a cloak, or skin, so as not

to see what is passing amongst the adults, who proceed with the ceremony.

Three of them now commence limping, and making a peculiar groaning noise,

until they arrive opposite one of the boys, upon whom they seize. The

individual laid hold of, jumps up, and runs off at full speed, as if he

intended to escape; the three, before occupied in limping and groaning,

run with him to prevent this, and after three or four races, all four run

over the place where the boys are covered up, and the boy, who had been

trying to escape, is caught, and laid down near the other boys, and

covered with dust. He is now supposed to be in a state of enchantment,

from which he is aroused by being lifted up by the ears, at the same time

that loud noises are made into them. All the men now, except the sick,

form themselves into a circle, and keep walking round in single file, the

first individual having a katto, or long stick held down his back. After

a few circles this is given to another; a short rest is taken, and then

the whole party rise, except the sick, the inspired men, or sorcerers,

and those upon whom the operation is to be performed, and proceed to a

short distance, the man with the katto down his back leading. When

assembled, they form into a line, and at word of command commence the

peculiar stamping and groaning, beginning at the far end of the line, and

gradually advancing towards the other. During several rounds of this

noise, they advance at each, a little nearer to the boys, who when they

are very near, have their eyes uncovered that they may see the men

approaching. The first man who held the katto, fastens it in the ground,

and all the others coming up, take hold of it, and fall down into a heap.

The boys are then thrown upon the heap of men, and the operation is

performed by men who are supposed to be inspired, or sorcerers.

Immediately after the operation, the boys are taken away from the

presence of all females, and kept upon a vegetable diet until recovered

from its effects. The head is covered with grease, and red ochre, with a

bandage passed round it, and is ornamented with tufts of feathers. The

Yudna, or pubic covering, is worn by the circumcised for some months

after the operation.

The fourth stage (Wilyaru) is entered about the age of twenty, when the

back, shoulders, arms and chest, are tattooed. He is called ngulte, at

the time of the operation; yellambambettu, when the incisions have begun

to discharge pus; tarkange, when the sores are just healed; mangkauitya,

at the time the cuts begin to rise; and bartamu, when the scars are at

their highest elevation. Each tribe has a distinctive mode of making

their incisions. Some have scars running completely across the chest,

from one axillar to the other, whilst others have merely dotted lines;

some have circles and semicircles formed on the apex of the shoulder,

others small dots only.

The fifth stage is bourka or full man, and is only attained when the

individual is getting grey-headed.

Among the Murray natives and contiguous tribes, instead of the rite of

circumcision, a ceremony called wharepin, is performed upon youths from

fourteen to sixteen. Early in the morning some of the male friends of the

boy about to be operated upon, go behind him to seize him, upon which he

sets off running as hard as he can, as if to escape; but being followed

by his pursuers is soon captured and thrown down; he is then raised up

and surrounded by several natives, who hold him and smear him from head

to foot, with red ochre and grease; during this part of the ceremony, a

band of elderly women, generally the mother and other near relatives,

surround the group, crying or lamenting, and lacerating their thighs and

backs with shells or flints, until the blood streams down. When well

ochred all over, the novice is led away by another native, apart from the

rest of the tribe, or if there are more than one, they stand together

linked hand in hand, and when tired sit down upon bunches of green boughs

brought for that purpose, for they are neither allowed to sit on the

ground, nor to have any clothing on; and when they move about they always

carry a bunch of green boughs in each hand.

They are now ready for the ceremony, which is usually performed by

influential natives of distant tribes, and which generally takes place at

the meetings of these tribes, as in the case of the meeting of the

Moorunde natives, and the Nar-wij-jerook tribe described in Chapter

II.P.220. On that occasion, there were three Moorunde natives to be

operated upon. As soon as the ceremonial of the meeting of the tribes had

been gone through, as already described, the Nar-wij-jerook natives

retired about a hundred yards, and sat down on the ground, the Moorunde

people remaining standing. The three spears which had little nets

attached to them, and which had been brought down by the Nar-wij-jerooks,

were now advanced in front of that tribe, still seated and stuck in a row

in the ground. Three men then got up and seated themselves at the foot of

the three spears, with their legs crossed. Two other natives then went

over to the Moorunde people, to where the three novices stood shaking and

trembling, like criminals waiting for their punishment, seizing them by

the legs and shoulders, and carefully lifting them from the ground, they

carried each in turn, and laid them on their backs at full length upon

green boughs, spread upon the ground in front of the three men sitting by

the spears, so that the head of each rested on the lap of one of the

three. From the moment of their being seized, they resolutely closed

their eyes, and pretended to be in a deep trance until the whole was

over. When all three novices had been laid in their proper position,

cloaks were thrown over them, but leaving the face exposed, and a

Nar-wij-jerook coming to the side of each, carefully lifted up a portion

of the covering and commenced plucking the hair from the pubes. At

intervals, the operators were relieved by others of both sexes, and of

various ages; little children under ten, were sometimes but not

frequently officiating. When all the hair had been pulled out, that

belonging to each native was carefully rolled up in green boughs, the

three lots being put together, and given to one of the wise or inspired

men to be put properly away; bunches of green boughs were now placed

under each arm of the boys as also in their hands, after which several

natives took hold of them, and raised them suddenly and simultaneously to

their feet, whilst a loud gutteral Whaugh was uttered by the other

natives around. They were then disenchanted and the ceremony was over,

but for some time afterwards, the initiated are obliged to sleep away

from the camp, and are not allowed to see the women; their heads and

bodies are kept smeared with red ochre and grease, and tufts of feathers

and kangaroo teeth are worn tied to the hair in front. One of the most

singular circumstances connected with this ceremony, is that the natives

who have officiated never afterwards mention the name of the young men,

nor do the latter ever mention the names of the individuals who have

operated upon them; should the name of either be accidentally mentioned

in the presence of the other, they are greatly annoyed, and at once put

the hand up to the mouth to signify that it must not be spoken. It is

thus often very difficult to find out the names of particular natives,

and strangers would make many mistakes, imagining that they were putting

down the name, when in reality they were marking some phrase, signifying

that his name could not be mentioned by the one applied to. They have no

objection to meet each other after the ceremony, nor do they decline

speaking, but there is this peculiarity in their conduct that if one

gives food, or any thing else to the other, it is either laid on the

ground for him to take, or is given through the intervention of a third

person, in the gentlest and mildest manner possible, whereas to another

native it would be jerked, perhaps much in the same way that a bone is

thrown to a dog. There are other instances in which the names of natives

are never allowed to be spoken, as those of a father or mother-in-law, of

a son-in-law and some cases arising from a connection with each other's

wives. In speaking, therefore, of one another, or introducing persons to

distant natives, a very round about way of describing them has often to

be adopted, yet so intimately are neighbouring tribes acquainted with the

peculiar relations subsisting between the members of each, that there is

rarely any difficulty in comprehending who the individual is that is

alluded to. Among the Adelaide tribes, there is no circumstance but death

that makes them unwilling to mention the name of any of their

acquaintances, and this cause of unwillingness I believe extends equally

all over the continent.

The ceremony of tattooing is practised among the tribes of the Murray and

its neighbourhood with great circumstantial variety. Some are tattooed

all over the back or breast in rows, some only one half of each or of

one, some are only dotted, others have rings or semicircles round the

upper part of the arms and some are tattooed on the belly, etc.

Many tribes I have met with in different parts of Australia, have no

tattooing at all, others are marked on the breast by singular looking

scars, occupying a space of six or eight inches each way upon the chest,

these are called "renditch" in the Murray dialect, and are made by fire;

but I have never been able to obtain any satisfactory information

respecting them. These scars are confined to particular tribes whom I

have only met with occasionally, and for a period which did not allow me

the opportunity of making much inquiry into their origin.

At Encounter Bay, instead of plucking out the hair of the pubes, the

incipient beard is pulled out by the roots, and the youth, as at the

Murray, is smeared from head to foot with red ochre and grease.

Among the females the only ceremony of importance that I am aware of is

that of tattooing the back, a long and very painful operation. [Note 79 at

end of para.] The method of performing the operation is as follows:

the person whose back is to be tattooed is taken out early in the

morning and squatted on the ground with her back towards the operator

(always a male), and her head bent down between the knees of a strong

old woman who is sitting on the ground for that purpose; the back is

thus presented in the best position to the operator, and the girl,

as long as her head is kept firmly in its position, cannot possibly

arise until all is over. The man who performs the ceremony then

commences by taking hold of a fold of the flesh on the girl's right side,

just above the breech, with his left hand, whilst with his right he

holds a piece of flint or shell, and cuts perpendicular gashes an inch

long, three-sixteenths of an inch deep, and about half an inch apart,

in horizontal lines from right to left quite across the back, the rows

being half an inch or three-quarters distant from each other.

[Note 79: Hoc plerumque menstruis jam primum venientibus factum est:

saepe autem puellis propter timorem statum suam celantibus, aut aliqua

alia ex causa, opus quod tempore menstruali fieri prorsus necessarium est,

in proxima differtur.]

This is carried up the whole way from where he commences to the

shoulders, and when freshly done, presents one of the most dreadful

spectacles imaginable, the blood gushes out in torrents, and though

frequently wiped away with grass by some of the women present, is

scarcely removed before the crimson stream flows as profusely as ever.

During the time of the ceremony the mother and other female relations

lament and mourn, whilst they lacerate their bodies with shells. When the

incisions are all made, grass or boughs are warmed at the fire, to wipe

off the blood. The whole scene is most revolting and disgusting; the

ground near where the poor creature sits is saturated with blood, and the

whole back is one mass of coagulated gore. In one case, where I saw this

operation performed upon a girl belonging to the Paritke tribe, she

seemed to suffer much pain. At first, until nearly a row of scars had

been made across the lower part of the back, she bore the operation well,

but as it proceeded, her cries were piteous and unceasing, and before it

was concluded, they became the most heart-rending screams of agony. From

the position in which she was held, however, by the old woman on the

ground (and who, by the way, was her mother,) it was impossible for her

to stir or escape; indeed, had she attempted it, she would probably have

been most cruelly beaten in addition.

The ceremony occupied three-quarters of an hour, but it was two hours

before the wounds had ceased to bleed, and even then, the dried blood was

not washed off. Two kangaroo teeth, and a tuft of emu feathers were tied

to the girl's hair, and she was smeared over with grease and red ochre,

but was still forbidden to touch food until the morning.

Many weeks elapse before the wounds heal, and the inconveniences

attending them are removed.

In another case that I saw, the girl bore the operation most stoically,

until about two-thirds over, when she could stand it no longer, but

screaming out in agony, applied her teeth and nails with such good effect

to the thighs of the old lady who held her down, that the latter was

compelled to release her grasp, and the poor girl got up, vowing she

would not have another incision made. Of course all resistance would have

been futile, or probably have only brought down a fearful chastisement

upon her if she had been alone with her tribe in the bush; but she took

advantage of my presence, and escaped with nearly one-third of the

incisions deficient. At this ceremony many other natives of both sexes,

and of all ages were standing looking on; but so little did they

commiserate the poor creature's sufferings, that the degree of her pain

only seemed to be the measure of their laughter and merriment.

The girls, however, are always anxious to have this ceremony performed,

as a well tattooed back is considered a great addition to their other

charms, and whenever I have offered to protect them from the cruelty of

their tribe for refusing to submit to it, they have invariably preferred

submitting to the operation.

The only other ceremonies undergone by the females, are those of having

the belly or arms tattooed, and of having the hair plucked from the pubes

after the death of a child, and sometimes from other causes.

In the mode of disposing of the dead, and the ceremonials attending it,

there is a difference in almost every tribe. Among the Adelaide natives

as soon as a person dies, a loud wailing cry is raised by the relations

and friends. The body is immediately wrapped up in the skin or clothing

worn during life, and in the course of a day or two, it is placed upon

the wirkatti or bier, which is made of branches crossed so as to form the

radii of a circle, an examination is then entered upon as to the cause of

death, in the following manner. The bier is carried upon the shoulders of

five or six persons, over places where the deceased had been living;

whilst this is going on, a person is placed under the bier, professedly

in conversation with the deceased. He asks, what person killed you? If

the corpse say no one, the inquest ceases; but if it states that some

person has, the bier moves round, the corpse is said to produce the

motion, influenced by kuingo (a fabulous personification of death). If

the alleged murderer be present, the bier is carried round by this

influence, and one of the branches made to touch him. Upon this a battle

is sure to ensue either immediately, or in the course of a day or two.

At the time of burial the body is removed from the bier, and deposited,

with the head to the west, in a grave from four to six feet deep.

Children under four years are not buried for some months after death.

They are carefully wrapped up, carried upon the back of the mother by

day, and used as a pillow by night, until they become quite dry and

mummy-like, after which they are buried, but the ceremony is not known to

Mr. Moorhouse.

In the Encounter Bay neighbourhood, four modes of disposing of the dead

obtain, according to Mr. Meyer:--old persons are buried; middle-aged

persons are placed in a tree, the hands and knees being brought nearly to

the chin, all the openings of the body, as mouth, nose, ears, etc. being

previously sewn up, and the corpse covered with mats, pieces of old

cloth, nets, etc. The corpse being placed in the tree, a fire is made

underneath, around which the friends and relatives of the deceased sit,

and make lamentations. In this situation the body remains, unless removed

by some hostile tribe, until the flesh is completely wasted away, after

which the skull is taken by the nearest relative for a drinking cup.

The third mode is to place the corpse in a sitting posture, without any

covering, the face being turned to the eastward, until dried by the sun,

after which it is placed in a tree. This mode is adopted with those to

whose memory it is intended to shew some respect. The fourth method is to

burn the body; but this is only practised in the case of still-born

children, or such as die shortly after birth.

Another method practised upon Lake Alexandrina, is to construct a

platform [Note 80 at end of para.], or bier upon high poles of pine,

put upright in the ground upon which the body is placed, bandages being

first put round the forehead, and over the eyes, and tied behind. A bone

is stuck through the nose, the fingers are folded in the palm of the hand,

and the fist is tied with nets, the ends of which are fastened about a

yard from the hands; the legs are put crossing each other.

[Note 80: "They often deposit their dead on trees and on scaffolds."

--Catlin's AMERICAN INDIANS, vol. ii. p. 10--vide also vol. i. p. 89]

The lamentations are raised by the natives around, fires are made below,

so that the smoke may ascend over the corpse, and the mourners usually

remain encamped about the place for a great length of time, or until the

body is thoroughly dry, after which they leave it. Mr. Schurman says, "At

Port Lincoln, after the body is put in a grave, and a little earth is

thrown on it; the natives place a number of sticks across its mouth, over

which they spread grass or bushes to prevent the remaining earth from

falling down, so that an empty space of about three feet in depth is left

between the body and the top earth."

At the Flinders river (Gulf of Carpentaria), Captain Stokes observes, "At

the upper part of Flinders river, a corpse was found lodged in the

branches of a tree, some twenty feet high from the ground; it had three

coverings, first, one of bark, then a net, and outside of all a layer of

sticks."

On the Murray river, and among the contiguous tribes, many differences

occur in the forms of burial adopted by the various tribes. Still-born

children are buried immediately. Infants not weaned are carried about by

the mother for some months, well wrapped up, and when thoroughly dry, are

put into nets or bags, and deposited in the hollows of trees, or buried.

Children and young people are buried as soon as practicable after death,

and a spearing match generally ensues.

Old people are also buried without unnecessary delay. I have even seen a

man in the prime of life all ready placed upon the bier before he was

dead, and the mourners and others waiting to convey him to his long home,

as soon as the breath departed.

In the case of a middle-aged, or an old man, the spearing and fighting

contingent upon a death is always greater than for younger natives. The

burial rites in some tribes assimilate to those practised near Adelaide;

in others I have witnessed the following ceremony:--The grave being dug,

the body was laid out near it, on a triangular bier (birri), stretched

straight on the back, enveloped in cloths and skins, rolled round and

corded close, and with the head to the eastward; around the bier were

many women, relations of the deceased, wailing and lamenting bitterly,

and lacerating their thighs, backs, and breasts, with shells or flint,

until the blood flowed copiously from the gashes. The males of the tribe

were standing around in a circle, with their weapons in their hands, and

the stranger tribes near them, in a similar position, imparting to the

whole a solemn and military kind of appearance. After this had continued

for some time, the male relatives closed in around the bier, the mourning

women renewed their lamentations in a louder tone, and two male relatives

stepped up to the bier, and stood across the body, one at the head, and

one at the foot, facing each other.

Having cut above the abdomen the strings binding the cloths which were

wound round the body, they proceeded to cut a slit of about ten inches

long, through the swathing cloths above the belly; through this opening,

they removed the arms, which appeared to have been crossed there, laying

them down by the sides, inside the wrappings (for no part was unwound);

having warmed a handful of green boughs over a fire, they thrust them in

through the opening in the cloths, upon the naked belly of the corpse;

after a little while these were removed, and one of their sorcerers made

an incision of about eight inches long in the abdomen. Having pulled out

the entrails and peritoneum, they were turned over, and carefully

examined, whilst the women kept wailing and cutting [Note 81 at end

of para.] themselves more violently than before, and even the men

themselves lamented aloud. When this had been continued for some time,

a portion of the omentum was cut off, wrapped in green leaves, and then

put carefully away in a bag. The entrails were now replaced, a handful

or two of green leaves thrust in above them, the cloths replaced, and the

body again bound up ready for interment.

[Note 81: Also an American custom.--Catlin, vol. i. p. 90. Lacerating the

flesh at death was expressly forbidden in the Jewish dispensation. It is

practised also in New Zealand.--Vide Dieffenbach.]

A relative of the deceased now jumped up, with his weapons, violently

excited, and apparently with the intention of spearing some one; but he

was at once restrained by his friends, who informed me that the

investigation had satisfied them that the man had not died through the

agency of sorcery; if he had, it is imagined that a cicatrice would have

been found upon the omentum. Two men now got into the grave, spread a

cloth in the bottom, and over that green boughs. Other natives turned the

bier round, and lifting up the body, gave it to the two in the grave to

lay in its proper position, which was quite horizontal, and with the head

to the west [Note 82 at end of para.], the grave being dug east and west:

green boughs were now thrown thickly into it, and earth was pushed in by

the bystanders with their feet, until a mound had been raised some height

above the ground. All was now over, and the natives began to disperse,

upon which the wild and piercing wail of the mourners became redoubled.

[Note 82: This appears to be a very general custom, and to be of Eastern

origin. Catlin describes it as always being attended to at the disposal

of the dead by the American Indians. In South Africa, however, Moffat

states (p. 307), "that the corpse is put exactly facing the north."]

Upon the mounds, or tumuli, over the graves, huts of bark, or boughs, are

generally erected to shelter the dead from the rain; they are also

frequently wound round with netting. Many graves being usually in one

vicinity, and an elevated dry place being selected, the cemeteries often

present a picturesque appearance. Graves are frequently visited by the

women at intervals, for some months, and at such times the wail is

renewed, and their bodies lacerated as at the interment. At Boga Lake, I

saw a grave with a very neat hut of reeds made over it, surmounted by

netting, and having a long curious serpentine double trench, of a few

inches deep, surrounding it; possibly it might have been the burial place

of the native mentioned by Major Mitchell, as having been shot by his

black, Piper, at that lake.

Nets, but not implements, are sometimes buried with the natives; nor do

the survivors ever like to use a net that has belonged to a man who is

dead.

There are not any ceremonies attending the burial of young children; and

the male relatives often neglect to attend at all, leaving it altogether

to the women.

The natives have not much dread of going near to graves, and care little

for keeping them in order, or preventing the bones of their friends from

being scattered on the surface of the earth.

I have frequently seen them handling them, or kicking them with the foot

with great indifference. On one occasion when out with an old native

looking for horses before it was daylight, I came to a grave of no very

old date, and where the boughs and bushes built over in the form of a hut

were still remaining undisturbed; the weather was extremely cold, and the

old man did not hesitate to ask me to pull down the boughs to make a

fire, but would not do it himself.

On another occasion when a poor old woman had been deserted by the

natives of Moorunde, and died a few days after being brought up to the

station, I had great difficulty in getting the other natives to bury her,

they would on no account touch the body; but after digging a hole, they

got a long wiry branch of a tree, and one man taking hold of each end

they bent the middle round the old woman's neck, and thus dragged her

along the ground and threw her into the pit like a dog, all the time

violently and continually spitting out in every direction to ward off, as

they said, the infection.

[Note 83: "He tied a thong to her leg, avoiding the touch of that form

which gave him birth, dragged the corpse to some bushes, and left the

thong because it had been in contact with the body of his mother."

--Moffat's South Africa, p. 306.]

Sometimes it happens that when a death occurs, the nearest grown up male

relative, whose duty it would be to take the principal part in the

ceremonies, or inflict punishment if evil agency is suspected to have

caused the death, may be absent. In this case he would have to discharge

these duties upon the first occasion of his meeting with the supposed

aggressors. The following is an instance which I witnessed.

A relative of Tenberry, one of the principal natives of the Murray, had

died when he was absent, and the son of the deceased was too young to

revenge the sorcery which it was imagined had caused his father's death,

it therefore became Tenberry's duty to do this upon the first occasion

that offered. I was with him when the parties first came into the

neighbourhood, and I witnessed the proceedings. Notice having been sent

by Tenberry the evening before, to warn them to be ready, I accompanied

him early in the morning towards the encampment of the natives, situated

in a hollow near the water; when within about a hundred yards we saw from

the rise all the natives seated below us in the valley. Tenberry now

halted, and having taken a hasty survey of the group hung down his head

upon his breast and raised a low mournful lamentation; after a time it

ceased, and the wail was at once replied to and continued by women's

voices in the camp: he now hastily went down to the camp still uttering

his lamentations, and the whole body rose at his approach, and formed a

large open circle around him. The natives who were supposed to have

caused the death of his friend, formed a part of the circle and were

armed with spears; behind them stood the orphan son of the deceased,

probably in the light of an accuser; and behind the son were the widows,

wailing and lamenting bitterly.

After taking the centre of the circle, Tenberry called for a spear, but

no one offered one, he therefore took a long one from a native in the

ring, who had evidently brought it for that purpose and yielded it

unresistingly. Pacing with this weapon furiously up and down the circle,

he advanced and retreated before the accused, brandishing the spear at

them, and alternately threatening and wailing. No one replied, but the

melancholy dirge was still kept up by the widows in the rear.

After sufficiently exciting himself in this manner for some time, he

advanced with uplifted spear, and successively repeating his blows

speared four or five persons among the accused natives in the left arm,

each of them pushing forward his arm unflinchingly for the blow as he

advanced upon them. Tenberry now again hung down his head and took up his

lamentation for a short time, after which he paced about rapidly,

vehemently haranguing, and violently gesticulating, and concluded by

ordering all the natives present to separate their camps, and each tribe

to make their own apart.

Mourning is performed by the men by cutting their beards [Note 84 at end

of para.] and hair, and daubing the head and breast with a white pigment;

among the women, by cutting and burning the hair close off [Note 85 at

end of para.] to the head and plastering themselves with pipe-clay.

In some cases, hot ashes are put upon the head to singe the hair to

its very roots, and they then literally weep "in dust and ashes." Among

some of the Murray tribes, a mourning cap is worn by the women, made two

or three inches thick of carbonate of lime. It is moulded to the head

when moist around a piece of net work; the weight is eight pounds and

a half. (Pl. 1, fig. 17.)

[Note 84: The custom among the Australians of putting dust or ashes on the

head, of shaving the head, of clipping the beard, and of lacerating the

body at death or in sign of mourning, appears very similar to

the practices among the Israelites in the time of Moses. Vide

Leviticus xix. 27, 28; Leviticus xxi. 5; Jeremiah xiviii. 30, 31, 32;

Revelations xviii. 19, etc.]

[Note 85: The women among the American Indians also cut off the hair

close to the head as a sign of mourning.--Vide Catlin, vol. i.]

The lamentations for the dead do not terminate with the burial;

frequently they are renewed at intervals by the women, during late hours

of the night, or some hours before day-break in the morning. Piercingly

as those cries strike upon the traveller in the lonely woods, if raised

suddenly, or very near him, yet mellowed by distance they are soothing

and pleasing, awakening a train of thoughts and feelings, which, though

sad and solemn, are yet such as the mind sometimes delights to indulge

in. The names of the dead are never repeated by the natives among

themselves, and it is a very difficult matter for a European to get them

to break through this custom, nor will they do it in the presence of

other natives. In cases where the name of a native has been that of some

bird or animal of almost daily recurrence, a new name is given to the

object, and adopted in the language of the tribe. Thus at Moorunde, a

favourite son of the native Tenberry was called Torpool, or the Teal;

upon the child's death the appellation of tilquaitch was given to the

teal, and that of torpool altogether dropped among the Moorunde tribe.

The natives of New Holland, as far as yet can be ascertained, have no

religious belief or ceremonies. A Deity, or great First Cause, can hardly

be said to be acknowledged, and certainly is not worshipped by this

people, who ascribe the creation to very inefficient causes. They state

that some things called themselves into existence, and had the property

of creating others. But upon all subjects of this nature their ideas are

indistinct and indefinite, as they are not naturally a reasoning people,

and by no means given to the investigation of causes or their effects;

hence, if you inquire why they use such and such ceremonies, they reply,

our fathers did so, and we do it; or why they believe so and so, our

fathers told us it was so. [Note 86 at end of para.] They are not fond of

entering upon abstruse subjects, and when they are induced to do it, it is

more than possible, from our imperfect acquaintance with their language,

and total ignorance of the character and bent of their thoughts upon such

points, that we are very likely to misunderstand and misrepresent their

real opinions. It appears to me that different tribes give a different

account of their belief, but all generally so absurd, so vague,

unsatisfactory, and contradictory, that it is impossible at present

to say with any certainty what they really believe, or whether they

have any independent belief at all. Mr. Moorhouse, who has taken

great pains in his inquiries among the natives around Adelaide upon

questions of this nature, states that they believe in a Soul or Spirit

(itpitukutya), separate and distinct altogether from the body, which

at death goes to the west, to a large pit, where the souls of all men go.

When all are dead, the souls will return to their former place of

residence, go to the graves of their forsaken bodies, and inquire,

are these the bodies that we formerly inhabited? The bodies will reply,

"we are not dead, but still living." The souls and bodies will not be

re-united; the former will live in trees during the day, and at night

alight on the ground, and eat grubs, lizards, frogs, and kangaroo rats,

but not vegetable food of any description. The souls are never again

to die, but will remain about the size of a boy eight years old.

[Note 86: "For that practice, they are, as far as I could learn, unable to

give any other reason than that of its being the custom of their

forefathers which they are therefore bound to follow."--Burchell's

Bichuana tribes, vol. ii. p. 531.]

The account given me by some of the natives of the Murray of the origin

of the creation, is, that there are four individuals living up among the

clouds, called Nooreele, a father and his three male children, but there

is no mother. The father is all-powerful, and of benevolent character. He

made the earth, trees, waters, etc., gave names to every thing and place,

placed the natives in their different districts, telling each tribe that

they were to inhabit such and such localities, and were to speak such and

such a language. It is said that he brought the natives originally from

some place over the waters to the eastward. The Nooreele never die, and

the souls (ludko, literally a shadow) of dead natives will go up and join

them in the skies, and will never die again. Other tribes of natives give

an account of a serpent of immense size, and inhabiting high rocky

mountains, which, they say, produced creation by a blow of his tail. But

their ideas and descriptions are too incongruous and unintelligible to

deduce any definite or connected story from them.

All tribes of natives appear to dread evil spirits, having the appearance

of Blacks (called in the Murray dialect Tou, in that of Adelaide Kuinyo).

They fly about at nights through the air, break down branches of trees,

pass simultaneously from one place to another, and attack all natives

that come in their way, dragging such as they can catch after them. Fire

[Note 87 at end of para.] appears to have considerable effect in keeping

these monsters away, and a native will rarely stir a yard by night,

except in moonlight, without carrying a fire-stick. Under any

circumstances they do not like moving about in the dark, and it is with

the greatest difficulty that they are ever induced to go singly from

one station to another, a mile or two distant, after night-fall.

Notwithstanding this dread of they don't know exactly what, the natives

do not let their fears prevent them moving about after dark, if any

object is to be gained, or if several of them are together. By moonlight

they are in the habit of travelling from one place to another, as well as

of going out to hunt opossums.

[Note 87: Fire is produced by the friction of two pieces of wood or

stick--generally the dry flower-stem of the Xanthorrea. The natives,

however, usually carry a lighted piece of wood about with them, and do

not often let it go out.]

Anything that is extraordinary or unusual, is a subject of great dread to

the natives: of this I had a singular instance at Moorunde. In March,

1843, I had a little boy living with me by his father's permission,

whilst the old man went up the river with the other natives to hunt and

fish. On the evening of the 2nd of March a large comet was visible to the

westward, and became brighter and more distinct every succeeding night.

On the 5th I had a visit from the father of the little boy who was living

with me, to demand his son; he had come down the river post haste for

that purpose, as soon as he saw the comet, which he assured me was the

harbinger of all kinds of calamities, and more especially to the white

people. It was to overthrow Adelaide, destroy all Europeans and their

houses, and then taking a course up the Murray, and past the Rufus, do

irreparable damage to whatever or whoever came in its way. It was sent,

he said, by the northern natives, who were powerful sorcerers, and to

revenge the confinement of one of the principal men of their tribe, who

was then in Adelaide gaol, charged with assaulting a shepherd; and he

urged me by all means to hurry off to town as quickly as I could, to

procure the man's release, so that if possible the evil might be averted.

No explanation gave him the least satisfaction, he was in such a state of

apprehension and excitement, and he finally marched off with the little

boy, saying, that although by no means safe even with him, yet he would

be in less danger than if left with me.

All natives of Australia believe in sorcery and witchcraft on the part of

certain of their own tribe, or of others. To enable them to become

sorcerers, certain rites must be undergone, which vary among the

different tribes. Around Adelaide they have at one period to eat the

flesh of young children, and at another that of an old man, but it does

not appear that they partake more than once in their life of each kind.

When initiated, these men possess extensive powers, they can cure or

cause diseases, can produce or dissipate rain [Note 88 at end of para.],

wind, hail, thunder, etc. They have many sacred implements or relics,

which are for the most part carefully kept concealed from the eyes of all,

but especially from the women, such as, pieces of rock crystal, said to

have been extracted by them from individuals who were suffering under

the withering influence of some hostile sorcerers; the pringurru, a sacred

piece of bone (used sometimes for bleeding), etc. The latter, if burned

to ashes in the fire, possesses mortiferous influence over enemies.

If two tribes are at war, and one of either happens to fall sick, it is

believed that the sickness has been produced by a sorcerer of the opposite

tribe, and should the pringurru have been burnt, death must necessarily

follow.

[Note 88: Also an American superstition.--Vide Catlin, vol.i.p. 134.

"Sorcerers or rain makers, for both offices are generally assumed by one

individual."--Moffat's South Africa, p. 305.]

As all internal pains are attributed to witchcraft, sorcerers possess the

power of relieving or curing them. Sometimes the mouth is applied to the

surface where the pain is seated, the blood is sucked out, and a bunch of

green leaves applied to the part; besides the blood, which is derived

from the gums of the sorcerer, a bone is sometimes put out of the mouth,

and declared to have been procured from the diseased part; on other

occasions the disease is drawn out in an invisible form, and burnt in the

fire, or thrown into the water; at others the patient is stretched upon

the ground, whilst another person presses with his feet or hands upon the

diseased part, or cold water is sprinkled over, and green leaves used as

before. There are few complaints that the natives do not attempt to cure,

either by charms or by specific applications: of the latter a very

singular one is the appliance personally of the urine from a female--a

very general remedy, and considered a sovereign one for most disorders.

Bandages are often applied round the ankles, legs, arms, wrists, etc.

sufficiently tight to impede circulation; suction is applied to the bites

of snakes, and is also made use of by their doctors in drawing out blood

from the diseased part, a string being tied to the hair, if it be the

head that ails, or to any other part, and the opposite end is put into

the sorcerer's mouth, who then commences sucking and spitting out blood,

which he declares comes from the patient. Blood letting is practised

occasionally to relieve pains in the head, or oppression of the system.

The operation is performed by opening a vein in the arm, with a piece of

rock crystal in the same way as Europeans bleed.

Fractures of the extremities are treated with splints and bandages, as in

Europe. Venereal ulcers are sprinkled with alkaline wood ashes, the

astringent liquid of the nettle bark, or a macerated preparation from a

particular kind of broad-leaved grass. Superficial wounds are left to

themselves, and usually heal without much trouble. Malformations of the

body are attributed to the influence of the stars, caused by the mother

eating forbidden food during pregnancy, or if occurring after birth it is

still caused by the stars, in consequence of forbidden food being eaten.

The teeth of the native are generally regular and very beautiful, indeed,

in their natural state, I have never seen a single instance of decayed

teeth, among them. Among those, however, who have been living near

Europeans for some years past, and whose habits and diet have been

changed from simple to more artificial ones, a great alteration is taking

place in this respect, and symptoms of decaying teeth are beginning to

make their appearance among many.

Among other superstitions of the natives, they believe in the existence

of an individual called in the Murrumbidgee Biam, or the Murray

Biam-baitch-y, who has the form and figure of a black, but is deformed in

the lower extremities, and is always either sitting cross-legged on the

ground, or ferrying about in a canoe.

From him the natives say they derive many of the songs sung at their

dances; he also causes diseases sometimes, and especially one which

indents the face like the effects of small pox. Another evil agency,

dreaded by the natives, is a spirit of the waters, called ngook-wonga, it

causes many diseases to those who go into the waters in unauthorised

places, or at improper times, hence a native is very loth to go into

water he is not accustomed to for the first time.

To counteract the evil effects produced by this spirit, there are persons

particularly devoted to this branch of sorcery, the following is a case

where I saw them exercise their powers. A boy of about fourteen had at

the Murray river been seized with a severe attack of erysipelas in the

lower part of one of his legs, from bathing and remaining in the water

when heated. As this did not get better, it was ascribed to the evil

agency of the Spirit of the Waters; and the Pachwonga or Pachwin were

called in to cure him. They arrived late at night, three in number, and

at once proceeded to the exercise of their duties. As soon as it was seen

that the magicians were coming, the friends of the boy lifted him up, and

carrying him some distance away from the camp, placed him on the ground

by himself, and then ranged themselves in two rows upon either side, in a

sitting posture, but at some distance behind the patient. The three magi

now advanced in the form of a triangle, one leading and the other two

behind, equidistantly apart. They were all painted, carried bunches of

green reeds in their hands, which they kept shaking, and danced [Note 89

at end of para.] with a measured tread, keeping the right foot always in

advance of the other as in a galopade, and singing a low solemn dirge,

which was vehemently beat time to, by the natives behind thumping

on the ground. Upon arriving at the boy, the leading native fell down

on his knees close to him, and took hold of the diseased leg, the

other two still dancing and singing around the patient. In a little

time, one of the two fell down also on his knees on another side

of the boy, leaving the third still dancing and singing around them.

At last he fell down also on his knees in a triangular position

with the others, the boy being in the centre. All three now commenced

blowing, spitting, making curious gurgling kinds of noises, waving

their green bunches of reeds, and pressing forcibly upon the diseased

leg to make the patient give audible indications of the evil spirit

leaving him. After some time, two of the three doctors got up

again, danced and sung around the boy, and then once more assuming their

kneeling positions, recommenced spitting and blowing, waving their

bunches of reeds, and making the same curious noises, but louder than

ever. Their exorcism at last was effectual, the evil spirit, in the shape

of a sharp stone, was extracted from the limb, and driven into the

ground; but it was too dark they said to see it. As soon as this

agreeable news was announced, the friends of the boy came up and hastily

removed him back to the camp, whilst the three doctors assuming the

triangular position, sung and danced round the place where the boy had

been laid, and then advancing in the same form towards the river, keeping

the right foot always in advance, they at last fairly drove the spirit

into the water and relieved the neighbourhood from so troublesome a

visitor.

[Note 89: "Dancing over him, shaking his frightful rattles, and singing

songs of incantation, in the hopes to cure him by a charm."--Catlin's

North American Indians, vol. i.p. 39.]

It was a long time before I lost a vivid impression of this ceremony; the

still hour of the night, the naked savages, with their fancifully painted

forms, their wild but solemn dirge, their uncouth gestures, and unnatural

noises, all tended to keep up an illusion of an unearthly character, and

contributed to produce a thrilling and imposing effect upon the mind.

At the Murray River, singular looking places are found sometimes, made by

the natives by piling small stones close together, upon their ends in the

ground, in a shape resembling the accompanying diagram, and projecting

four or five inches above the ground. The whole length of the place thus

inclosed, by one which I examined, was eleven yards; at the broad end it

was two yards wide, at the narrow end one. The position of this singular

looking place, was a clear space on the slope of a hill, the narrow end

being the lowest, on in the direction of the river. Inside the line of

stones, the ground was smoothed, and somewhat hollowed. The natives

called it Mooyumbuck, and said it was a place for disenchanting an

individual afflicted with boils. In other places, large heaps of small

loose stones are piled up like small haycocks, but for what purpose I

could never understand. This is done by the young men, and has some

connection probably with their ceremonies or amusements.

In others, singular shaped spaces are inclosed, by serpentine trenches, a

few inches deep, but for what purpose I know not, unless graves have

formerly existed there.

Another practice of the natives, when travelling from one place to

another, is to put stones up in the trees they pass, at different heights

from the ground, to indicate the height of the sun when they passed.

Other natives following, are thus made aware of the hour of the day when

their friends passed particular points. Captain Grey found the same

custom in Western Australia; vol. i. p. 113, he says:--

"I this day again remarked a circumstance, which had before this period

elicited my attention, which was, that we occasionally found fixed on the

boughs of trees, at a considerable height from the ground, pieces of

sandstone, nearly circular in form, about an inch and a half in

thickness, and from four to five in diameter, so that they resembled

small mill-stones. What was the object of thus fashioning, and placing

these stones, I never could conceive, for they are generally in the least

remarkable spots. They cannot point out burial places, for I have made

such minute searches, that in such case I must have found some of the

bones; neither can they indicate any peculiar route through the country,

for two never occur near one another."

The power of sorcery appears always to belong, in a degree, to the aged,

but it is assumed often by the middle aged men. It is no protection to

the possessor, from attack, or injury, on the part of other natives. On

the contrary, the greater the skill of the sorcerer, and the more

extensive his reputation, the more likely is he to be charged with

offences he is unconscious of, and made to pay their penalty. Sorcerers

are not ubiquitous, but have the power of becoming invisible, and can

transport themselves instantaneously to any place they please. Women are

never sorcerers. It is a general belief among almost all the Aborigines,

that Europeans, or white people, are resuscitated natives, who have

changed their colour, and who are supposed to return to the same

localities they had inhabited as black people. The most puzzling point,

however, with this theory, appears to be that they cannot make out how it

is that the returned natives do not know their former friends or

relatives. I have myself often been asked, with seriousness and

earnestness, who, among the Europeans, were their fathers, their mothers,

and their other relatives, and how it is that the dead were so ignorant,

or so forgetful, as not to know their friends when they again returned to

the earth.

One old native informed me, that all blacks, when dead, go up to the

clouds, where they have plenty to eat and drink; fish, birds, and game of

all kinds, with weapons and implements to take them. He then told me,

that occasionally individuals had been up to the clouds, and had come

back, but that such instances were very rare; his own mother, he said,

had been one of the favoured few. Some one from above had let down a

rope, and hauled her up by it; she remained one night, and on her return,

gave a description of what she had seen in a chaunt, or song, which he

sung for me, but of the meaning of which I could make out nothing.

Chapter VI

NUMBERS--DISEASES--CAUSE OF LIMITED POPULATION--CRIMES AGAINST EUROPEANS--

AMONGST THEMSELVES--TREATMENT OF EACH OTHER IN DISTRIBUTION OF FOOD, ETC.

There is scarcely any point connected with the subject of the Aborigines

of New Holland, upon which it is more difficult to found an opinion, even

approximating to the truth, than that of the aggregate population of the

continent, or the average number of persons to be found in any given

space. Nor will this appear at all surprising, when the character and

habits of the people are taken into consideration. Destitute of any fixed

place of residence, neither cultivating the soil, nor domesticating

animals, they have no pursuits to confine them to any particular

locality, or to cause them to congregate permanently in the same

district. On the contrary, all their habits have an opposite tendency.

The necessity of seeking daily their food as they require it, the fact of

that food not being procurable for any great length of time together in

the same place, and the circumstance that its quality, and abundance, or

the facility of obtaining it, are contingent upon the season of the year,

at which they may visit any particular district, have given to their mode

of life, an unsettled and wandering character.

The casual observer, or the passing traveller, has but little, therefore,

to guide him in his estimate of the population of the country he may be

in. A district that may at one time be thinly inhabited, or even

altogether untenanted, may at another be teeming with population. The

wanderer may at one time be surrounded by hundreds of savages, and at

another, in the same place he may pass on alone and unheeded.